Salina Needs Assessment
.
Salina, Kansas
.~
SALINA NEEDS ASSESSMENT
Prepared Under Direction Of A
Citizens Task force
Under Joint Auspices of City of Salina and United Way of Salina
by
Management and Community Studies Institute
United Way of America
March, 1977
SALINA, KANSAS COMMUNITY STUDY
TASK FORCE GROUPS
James Geisendorf, General Chairman
No. 1 - Inadequate Income and Lack of Employment Opportunities
Lyle Morgan, Chrm.
Harry Anderson
Dr. Jack Lungstrum
Larry Smull
Bob Whitworth
No.2 - Deficient Environmental Conditions and/or Unfulfilled Basic
Material Needs
Ed Boyce, Chrm.
Garth Hulse
Everett Kovandao
Sr. Mary Lou Roberts
Diane Simpson
No.3 - III Health and Mental Illness
R. W. Bull, Chrm.
Rev. Terry Boggs
Joyce Brown
Leo F. Gels
Rev. Ken Short
No.4 - Inadequate Knowledge and Skills
Helen Crawford, Chrm.
June Garrett
Tom t~. Hampson
Dr. Donald Kaple
W. Dean o-wens
Charles P. Scott
No. 5 - Personal and Social Maladjustment and Lack of Developmental
Opportunities
Louise Simcox, Chrm.
Karen Graves
Virginia King
Norbert Leahy
Marc Ryan
Ed Sherraden
City Representative: Carmen Chirveno
United Way of Salina: Ron Elwell
Consultants, United Way of America:
Harold C. Edelston, Vice President, United Way of America
Jane Hardv. Senior Consultant
William Friedlander, Special Consultant
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
SALINA NEEDS ASSESSMENT 1
A. Introduction 1
B. Study Method Used 1
C. Scope of Needs and Problems
Identified in This Report 3
D. Omissions 4
E. Implementation 4
THE THREE LEVELS OF PRIORITY FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF
IDENTIFIED HUMAN NEEDS AND PROBLEMS IN THE SALINA AREA
6
GROUP 1: Highest Priority-Immediate Implementation Recommended 6
GROUP 2: Urgent - But Susceptible To Delay In Implementation 6
GROUP 3: Adaptable To Longer Range
Implementation Than Groups 1 or 2
7
APPENDIX A - Persons Interviewed for Information on Needs
APPENDIX B - Sources of Documentation
A-l
B-1
SALINA NEEDS ASSESSMENT
A. Introducti on
This is a report on significant unmet human needs and unsolved problems
in Salina and Saline County. It is intended to identify such needs and prob-
lems in a rank order of their relative urgency. Its value will be realized
only if it is used by funding bodies, governmental and voluntary, as a guide
to the order in which they respond to public pressure for funds for human ser-
vice programs. If used as intended, it should be a satisfactory resolution of
justified criticisms when funds are allocated to a cause primarily because it
has more vocal advocates, rather than because the funding body is responding
to some rational guidelines on the relative urgency of various needs.
Under the joint auspices of the City of Salina and the United Way of
Salina, 69 knowledgeable citizens have been involved with planning consultants
from United Way of America in the development of this report. Perhaps the most
significant finding of this project was the relatively modest number of unmet
needs which were identified. The Salina area has its human problems as does
any community, but the number and intensity of them were judged by the study
consultants to be relatively negligible as compared to many similar size com-
munities in other parts of the country. Those problems that do exist are sol-
uble in the foreseeable future, given the will of the local citizenry to solve
them.
B. Study Method Used
The plan for this study incorporated several needs assessment methods.
No one method could suffice, inasmuch as the intangible nature of some human
needs in contrast to the concreteness of others render infeasible the use of a
single approach. In the experience of other communities which have conducted
similar projects, no particular method has been found which is applicable to
all types of human needs and problems. When there are concrete, tangible indi-
cators of a problem, identification of it is relatively simple: for example,
morbidity and mortality statistics depict many unmet health needs. But many
human needs and problems are not so easily identified: some because they are
intangible and do not lend themselves to systematic reporting or objective
measurement; and others because no records of their incidence or prevalence
are maintained, even though record-keeping methods are possible. Internalized
psychological problems of individuals, tensions between marriage partners on
the verge of breakup and counts of drug abusers are examples of elusive prob-
lem documentation.
The needs assessment methods whi ch now represent the Ilstate of the art"
are the following:
1. Use of socio-economic data and agencies' services statistics (drawinq
inferences from population, economic data, vital statistics. persons
receiving services, arrest data, etc.). ,
2. Market surveys (random sampling of the total population or particu-
lar segments of the population to obtain information on the needs
which they experience themselves or perceive in others).
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5.
Inventory of human
Compilation of the
providers.
Consumers' input (convening various persons
and perceptions of interest groups, such as
Group think (groups without vested interests
mation and draw conclusions).
service organizations and programs.
experiences and perceptions of human service
3.
4.
6.
able to reflect opinions
aged, youth, etc.).
analyze collected infor-
The consultants initially considered using all six methods and ultimately dis-
carded one, namely #2, "Market surveys,1I primarily for reasons of cost.
Compilation of an inventory of existing programs for the Salina area was
the first step in this project. It served the additional purpose of providing
basic information about available services for the initiation of a centralized
information and referral service under the auspices of United Way of Salina. It
also served to identify, independently of other evidence, missing programs which
a community of the size of the Salina area should have. An example of one such
missing program was legal assistance for the indigent. Absence of a local pro-
gram from the inventory was the basis for identifying this need.
The inventory also served as a check against information obtained from
providers of servicesl/in the Salina area, who were the primary means for
identifying human needs and problems. The information from them was obtained
in face-to-face interviewing by the consultants. A high dcg~e~ of dependence
was placed on the interviewees' observations and knowledge of needs in the sub-
ject areas in which they operate. The assumption was that their day-to-day
experiences generally give them keen awareness of problems nr service needs in
their subject area. They are also likely to disclose the existence of problems
not widely recognized by the general citizenry when the social unacceptability
of the problem creates a resistence to acknowledging its existence (e.g., drug
abuse, child abuse, battered wives, etc.).
On the other hand, the deficiency in this information is that.
it may suffer from a lack of credibility among funders of programs. Service
providers may be suspect of having bias because of an interest in promoting
their organizations and the causes to which the latter are directed. The con-
sul tants tried to counteract suspicions of such bias in three ways:
1. By asking the informants to provide documentationf! for their asser-
tions of unmet needs and unsolved problems;
2. By involving them in identifying needs and problems outside their
immediate field of interest;
3. By engaging local citizens who are not service providers in a
review and appraisal of the information obtained from the service
providers.
The latter two approaches are reflected in the work of the five task forces,
which were chaired by citizen leaders not engaged in providing human services.
11 Names of providers interviewed appear as Appendix A of this report.
11 The major sources of documentation are listed in Appendix B of this report.
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The task forces' members were predominantly composed of such lay persons, with
a sprinkling of service providers. The latter were recruited for task forces
on subject matter other than that in which they are professionally expert.
The task forces engaged in the "group think" method by reviewing and
discussing the consultant's drafts of descriptions of needs/problem~which were
elicited from interviews and documented, to the extent possible, from available
data. The substance of this report is consequently the consensus of the task
forces, which made several additions to and deletions from the original list of
needs and problems presented to them. Consequently, no need or problem is
included in this report unless the task forces considered it to be significant.
Task Force 3, during its deliberations, expressed doubts about the serious-
ness of drug abuse among youth. As a result, it employed method #5 (consumers'
input) by convening a small group of representative youth drawn from junior high
and high schools to obtain from them first-hand testimony from their everyday
experience on the extent of the problem among their peers. The outcome was to
satisfy the task force that an ominous problem does exist. and to convince it
that documentation is sufficient to retain the problem on the list of needs/
problems to be included in this report.
Several task forces unearthed available data to supplement those gathered
by the consultants to document certain needs and problems. They also added two
needs to the original list after deliberating over data brought to their atten-
tion by task force members.
The end result of the use of these methods is the list of needs and prob-
lems which comprise the substance of this report.
C. Scope of Needs and Problems
Identified in This Report
"Human needs," being a term which is not self-definitive, could conceiv-
ably encompass every aspect of life. To have employed a definition of inde-
terminate scope would probably have rendered this report so unwieldy as to
hamper implementation of its content. The hazard would have been to so over-
whelm decision-makers as to immobilize implementation. Therefore, the consul-
tants set limits to the scope of the report. The limits, nevertheless, covered
a comprehensive list of possibilities. United Way of America's Service Identi-
fication System (UWASIS 1), by which the Inventory for this project was
organized, served to define the scope of the project's subject matter. Five of
the six goals of UWASIS were used as the major point of departure for defining
the subject matter to be covered. The goals statements were, for sake of con-
sistency, translated into statements of need. Goal six of UWASIS was not used
because most of the service systems under it are indigenous to most of the other
five goals as well, an inconsistency that has now been corrected in a new edition
of UWASIS published after this project was near completion.
UWASIS could not be used in its published format because it is not a com-
pilation of needs and problems. It is a classification of service systems and
programs which implies various needs and problems.' In order to apply UWASIS to
this needs assessment project, the consultants defined the needs and problems
to which the programs were addressed, and utilized the list of those needs and
problems which was then produced. This approach had the incidental benefit of
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evokinQ an awareness that there are alternative programs for meeting a need
or solving a problem by virtue of the fact that some different programs were
shown to be directed to the same need. Users of this report are thus enabled
to choose among alternative programs to meet some needs. The choices can be
based on such factors as practicality of implementation, estimates of relative
costs and benefits, etc.
D. Omi s s ions
Omitted from this report are most needs for capital improvements. Many
of these have been idEntified in the Salina Community Development Program.
Several exceptions to the exclusion of capital improvements are recommendations
for building facilities which are prerequisite to initiating human service pro-
grams. Two examples are nursing homes and low cost rental housing. On the
other hand, the report does not deal with the current community concern about
nei ghborhood centers, .speci fi cally, the renovation of Carver Center and Meroori a 1
Hall. These facilities could be used for meeting a number of needs elucidated
in this report, if a policy decision is made to establish these facilities as
multi-purpose centers. On the other hand, the centers are not indispensible to
any of the programs suggested for meeting the needs presented in this report,
since the programs are susceptible to implementation in other types of facilities.
E. Implementation
It is, of course, a truism that the value of this report is commensurate
with the use made of it. The governmental and voluntary funding bodies can
utilize it productively if they understand both its useful' potential and its
limitations.
As stated previously, the needs listed here do not comprise a comprehensive
list of all conceivable con~unity needs. Only those are included which are
deemed by the citizens who participated in the process to be signif"icant and
worthy of current concentrated attention. No doubt omissions will be discovered
by individuals who have a proprietary interest in an unlisted particular need or
problem. This report does not imply a denial of the existence of unmentioned
scattered needs and problems. They have been omitted only because, in the opinion
of those responsible for this project, they are not of great enough significance
to distract the community by their inclusion from those which are of far greater
urgency. In other words, the needs and problems contained in this report are
all of high priority. But even though all are high priority, a rank grouping of
them is offered out of the realization that everything cannot be done at once.
The judgment of the citizen task forces has been exercised to suggest three
degrees of priority: Needs/problems in Group 1 are of urgent immediacy; Group 2,
urgent but susceptible to delay in implementation; and Group 3, adaptable to
longer range implementation than desirable in the first two priority groups.
The purpose of this project was only to identify needs and problems. It
was not to delineate in detail the alternative programs which can meet the needs
or solve the problems. In some instances, the neeped programs have well-known
precedents and need minimal further effort at development of detailed program
proposals. In still other instances, programs have already been developed locally
and are awaiting funding. Finally, the implementation of still other programs
will require a major effort by an appropriate body to develop detailed program
proposa 1 s .
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The three priority groups which follow are expected to be of greatest
value when two or more programs are competing for the same funds. If an
opportunity arises to implement a program in Group 3 before programs in Group
1, it is not the intent to urge that the lower priority program be delayed
until all programs in Group 1 are implemented. Such a situation could con-
ceivably arise when outside funds become available for a program in Groups 2 or 3
at a time when no funds for any of the Group 1 programs are available. Common
sense would call for taking advantage of the available funds, even though to
do so violates the priority scheme. The basic thesis is that all programs, in
whichever of the three groups they are plaGed, are of importance and the
authors of these priority guidelines do not envisage adherence at the expense
of opportunities to meet all the needs and problems listed.
No order of priority is implied for the needs and problems within each
group; the listing is in alphabetical order. All needs and problems in Group 1
are intended to be of equal priority and the same for Groups 2 and 3. The
priorities are between each group, not within them.
The task forces, meeting as a committee of the whole on March 29, 1977,
assigned each of the needs and problems to one of the three priority groups.
In doing so, three criteria were used which represent the most frequently
used basis by which citizens usually judged the relative importance of needs
and problems:
1. The relationship of the need or problem to survival; if the need
is not met or the problem not solved, how serious a threat is
there to the lives of the people affected? The greater the impor-
tance to survival, the higher the ranking by this criterion.
2. Numbers of people affected. The more people having the need or
problem, the higher the ranking by this criterion.
3. Feasibility of implementation of program(s) to meet the need or
solve the problem. The greater the likelihood that something
can be done about the problem by local action, the higher the
pri ori ty.
The task force members were asked to rate each need/problem on a scale of
one to five for each of the three criteria, and the sum of the ratings provided
a rank order of all needs and problems. Following the compilation of the rank
order, the group voted to distribute all needs/problems into three groups.
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THE THREE LEVELS OF PRIORITY FOR
IMPLEMENTATION OF IDENTIFIED HUMAN NEEDS Arm PROBLEMS
IN TH E SALI r~A AREA
GROUP 1: Hightest Priority - Immediate Implementation Recommended
Alcohol and drug abuse among juveniles and young adults. (page 8)
Inability of all families on the, verge of breakup or with
marital problems, problems of family-child relations, etc.
to obtain non-psychiatric professional counseling help. (page 9)
Inability of newcomers to the community to obtain services
of a private family physician and difficult access to
medical care for residents in rural areas of the county. (page 10)
Inadequate fire prevention and protection. (page 11)
Lack of extended nursing and supportive domiciliary care
for aged and handicapped unable to remain in their own
hones. (page 12)
Lack of rental housing for low and middle income fami-
lies and low income aged. (page 13)
GROUP 2: Urgent - But Susceptible To Delay In Implementation
A
Adults who are undereducated, having failed to complete
high school. (page 15)
Inability of grade school children to obtain guidance
and help in classroom-related problems, vocational plans,
course selection, underachievement in relation to innate
abi 1 ity, etc. (page 16)
Inability of professionals in health, education, law
enforcement, and corrections, as well as general public,
to recognize abuse and neglect of children when they
encounter cases, and incorrectly attribute some cases to
unavoidable accidents. (page 17)
Lack of emergency shelter for families or members of
families in crise~ the victims of disaster (e.g.,
fires), neqlected or abused children, battered wives,
transient families and individuals stranded in
Salina, and runaway youth for whom official deten-
tion would be inappropriate and/or counter-productive. (page 18)
Lack of temporary housing for employed newcomers. (page 20)
Pre-school children who are ill-supervised during the
day because of necessity for parent(s) to work or
because homemaker is absent from home because of ill-
ness or other causes. (page 21)
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Separation from local government of Salina Recreation
Commission; the limit on its source of income to 2 mill
levy in effect since 1965 despite increasing costs and
increasing demand for services; and inability to hold
title to property or issue bonds. (page 22)
Young school children whose parents are working, leav-
ing them unsupervised during the hours after school
until the return home of the parents (i.e.,llatch-key"
children). (page 24)
GROUP 3: Adaptable To Longer Range Implementation Than Groups 1 or 2
Excessive number of offenders incarcerated in prisons
who could be successfully rehabilitated at less cost
by a 1 terna ti.ves to inca rcera ti on, such as proba ti on,
work release programs, etc. (as an alternative to bui1d-
i ng more pri sons) . (page 25)
Inability of emotionally disturbed children of elemen-
tary school age to obtain education tailored to their
needs. (page 26)
Inability of the poor to afford and obtain legal assist-
ance in pressing their legal rights in civil cases. (page 27)
Inadequate access to job opportunities for public
assistance recipients who are being trained in the WIN
(Work Incentive) program, for the handicapped, for
minority persons without special skills, and for high
school dropouts. (page 28)
Inadequate recreation for older adolescents and young
adu1 ts. (page 30)
Lack of knowledge among elderly of the benefits to
which they are entitled or the services available to
them. (page 31)
Lack of recreational opportunities for working adults
during winter months. ~page 32)
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Salina Needs Assessment Project
Task Force 3
III Health and Mental Illness
Need/Problem: Alcohol and drug abuse among juveniles and young adults.
Evidence of need/problem: On December 29, 1976, the Salina police announced
that lithe arrest tally in their week-long investigation of various
recent burglaries and related drug offenses has risen to 17. The total
includes 11 juveniles and 6 adults ...."
Representatives of several agencies dealing with youthful drug abusers,
including the co~rts and schools, report referring and directing them
to St. John's Hospital. But St. Johnls readily concedes that it cannot
treat them alongside older patients and maintains that another program
is needed in the City. The consequence is that these young people are
not treated and are in the community, in jail without treatment, or are
sent out of Saline County.
~uantity of need/problem: Except for the 17 reported arrested, there is no
basis for estimating the total number of young drug abusers in the
Salina area. Junior and senior high school youth who met with the task
force asserted that the problem is serious among their peers and its
seriousness is growing. There is evidence of drug sales, they aver, even
on school grounds. Marijuana is easy to obtain and mo~t students have
received offers to try it. Data from the juvenile police officer show that
among 383 cases of offenders, 25 to 35 percent are directly drug or
a 1 coho 1 re 1 a ted.
Programs to meet need/problem:
1. Detoxifi.cation and counseling specially designed for young persons,
preferably under the auspices of a hospital or the Mental Health
Center.
2. Intensified anti-drug education in schools and one directed to
potential offenders and victims out of school.
3. Alcoholism clinic for parent education.
4. Recreational program recommended elsewhere in this needs assessment
specially tailored to the desires of older adolescents and young
adults.
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Salina Needs Assessment Project
Task Force 5
Personal and Social Maladjustment
and Lack of Developmental Opportunities
Need/Problem: Inability of all families on the verge of breakup or with
marital problems, problems of family-child relations, etc. to
obtain non-psychiatric professional counseling help.
Evidence of need/problem:
1. The number of school social workers is extremely limited, and the
available workers are spread so thin that they must concentrate on
crisis situations, such as delinquency.
2. The Lutheran minister whose church houses a p-art-time caseworker
from Lutheran Social Services and who himself does pastoral counsel-
i ng reported tha t the Lutheran agency and members of the 1 oca 1
ministerial association are unable to respond to urgent requests
for counseling help because of long waiting lists.
3. The Chief Juvenile Probation Officer reported that the probation
caseloads per worker (90, as compared to a recommended standard of
50) are too high to permit his staff to do general family counsel-
ing for families who are in serious need of it. .
4. In many cities the size of Salina, a non-sectarian family counsel-
ing agency is to be found, usually with support from the local United
Way and other support from fees from clients able to pay and from
purchase of service by the local welfare department. Salina has no
such agency.
5. There is a waiting period required except in dire emergencies for
service from the Mental Health Center. No adequate alternatives are
available to which some of the overload might be referred.
Quantity of need/problem: Estimates by professionals interviewed produced an
apparent consensus that the number of families and individuals who could
benefit from casework counseling services in a given year would be in
the neighborhood of 200.
Programs to meet need/problem: A program of casework counseling which uses
the social casework method (i .e., a professional relating to a client
via interview, talking, discussion, and lending a sympathetic ear) to
advise and enable families and individuals within a family to come to
grips with and to resolve whatever emotional problem or temporary stress
is encountered by them. The program would supplement but not supplant
the services of the Mental Health Center.
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Salina Needs Assessment Project
Task Force 3
III Health and Mental Illness
Need/Problem: Inability of newcomers to the community to obtain services of
a private family physician and difficult access to medical care for
residents in rural areas of the county.
Evidence of need/problem:
1. The heads of two colleges reported that students have had great
difficulty in obtaining services of a physician when their ill-
ness was not a dire emergency.
2. The number of family physicians in the Salina area is acknowledged
by the medical profession to be less than desirable, as may be
inferred by recent efforts to initiate a program to attract more
family practice physicians to the community.
3. The Health Department attempts to maintain a current list of
physicians who are willing to accept new patients and to whom
inquirers can be referred. In January, 1977, the list had dwindled
to only one name.
Quantity of need/~roblem: Probably in the vicinity of 100 new patients (non-
emergency) uring the course of a year.
Programs to meet need/problems:
1. One solution lies with the Medical Society at the present time.
Saline County could emulate the program in Wichita in which physi-
cians each agree to make themselves available to new patients for
a given period of time on a rotating basis during the year, and
referrals are made to them in accordance with the agreed upon
schedule. The longer term solution lies in a program of incentives
to attract young doctors to the community.
2. E~ansion of program of doctors' assistants working under supervision
of fami ly practi ce t1. D. IS.
3. Development of family practice residencies to serve rural areas
would relieve the problems in health care for rural residents, as
well as add to the supply of medical care in Salina itself. Fund-
ing of such a program for Salina and other areas wereheing prupused
to the State Legislature at the time this report was written.
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Salina Needs Assessment Project
Task Force 2
Deficient Environmental Conditions and/or
Unfulfilled Basic Material Needs
Need/Problem: Inadequate fire prevention and protection.
Evidence of need/problem:
1. Saline County outside the City of Salina is dependent upon volun-
teer firefighters. Recognition of the absence of a paid force to
lend stability and increase the efficiency of the present system
has been evident from recent agitation by citizen groups for the
creation of a paid, full-time fire department in the County to sup-
port the volunteer organization. To date, the County government
has been unresponsive. A proposal to place the issue on the Nov-
ember ballot was rejected, despite the findings favoring the pro-
position by a rural fire protection study committee appointed by
the Saline County Commission.
The Salina Fire Department is by ordinance prevented from fighting
fires outside city limits except in a one-mile surrounding fringe
where fire protection is available to residents by contract.
2. North Salina is exposed to fire hazards by virtue ~f the fact that
the railroad tracks cut off access of fire trucks when trains are
passing across the access streets. Low water pressure is also a problem.
Quantity of need/problem: Northern area of Salina and Saline County outside
Salina.
Programs to meet need/problem:
1. Creation of a county fire department as proposed by the special
study commi t tee.
2. Erection of a fire station in Salina located so as to overcome the
railroad obstacle, or else the erection of a railroad overpass,
strategically located.
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Sa 1 i na Needs Assessment Project
Task Force 3
III Health and Mental Illness
Need/Problem: Lack of extended nursing and supportive domiciliary care for
aged and handicapped unable to remain in their own homes.
Eviderce of need/problem: Story in Salina Journal of November 28, 1976,
reported that a "no vacancy" sign was posted on every nursing home in
the county and most had long waiting lists. All are proprietary. Two
of the existing nursing homes (Kenwood View and White Cross) had Medi-
caid patients in January, 1977, according to inforroation given by them.
Salina and Saline County lack nursing homes under non-profit auspices;
the proposed Presbyterian Home will be the first, and will offer 50
beds for medical care and 90 units for living accommodations.
The two local hospitals are reluctantly compelled to place persons need-
ing nursing home care outside the county, at great inconvenience to the
patients' families and much psychological suffering to patients them-
selves. The hospitals report that they must keep some patients longer
than necessary and at greater cost because of the shortage of nursing
home beds.
Quantity of need/eroblem: In October, 1976, the hospitals placed 15 patients
outside Sallne County. As of January 17, 1977, the fpur local nursing
homes had waiting lists which totaled 103 prospective patients.
Programs to meet need/problem:
1. Construction of non-profit nursing homes for skilled and intermediate
care. They could be free standing institutions under church or non-
sectarian auspices, or could be extensions of the facilities of the
two general hospitals, or both.
2. Another solution to the problem could be the conversion of large
residencies to small group homes for persons requiring only some
limited assistance in daily living but not skilled nursing care.
3. Home care programs to provide medical, nursing, social work, physical
therapy and chore services to enable individuals to receive necessary
care at home.
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Salina Needs Assessment Project
Task Force 2
Deficient Environmental Conditions and/or
Unfulfilled Basic Material Needs
Need/Problem: Lack of rental housing for low and middle income families and
low income aged.
Evidence of need/problem:
1. According to the Salina Journal edition of November 11, 1976, the
Salina Housing Authority reported a waiting list of 219 families
for rental housing.
2. It was alleged by some service providers who were interviewed that
most of the available rental housing in the private market is sub-
standard, and the prevailing rents of from $120-$130 per month for
these inadequate facilities are beyond the reach of many poor
famil i es .
3. The heads of two local educational institutions attested to the
great difficulty encountered by non-resident married students and
new faculty members in locating rental housing at prices they can
afford, resulting in many instances in highly unsatisfactory hous-
ing arrangements for them.
4. The Community Development Program documented the ~eed of low income
elderly for decent housing. The problem may be alleviated by
Johnstown Towers, a 91 unit housing project for the aged, to be
built under the "Section 8" housing program of the U.S.Department
of Housing and Urban Development. The projected Presbyterian Manor
will offer 90 units for ambulatory aged, a small fraction of the
number of units estimated to be needed. But neither of these pro-
jects will fill the entire need of the elderly population.
Quantity of need/~roblem: Number of low income families needing rental housing
or rent asslstance:
1. Housing Authority - over 200 families on waiting list.
2. Two local educational institutions - 50 (est.).
3. Housing for low and moderate income families was rated as the high-
es t priori ty need by respondents to a recent Chamber of Conunerce
survey.
4. Low income families in rented households: 1394 (from CDP Housing
Assistance Plan for 1977-78, taken from a 1976 survey).
5. The CDP set a goal of 300 units for the elderly, which represents
a reasonable goal but will not meet the total estimated need of the
546 elderly households shown in the CDP 9rant application to be in
need of housing assistance.
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Programs to meet need/problem:
1. Purchase of some of the homes in Schilling Manor by the Salina
Housing Authority for use as "scattered site" public housing.
2. Expansion of rent subsidy program for families eligible under
regulations of the U.S.Department of Housing and Urban Development
(Section 8 housing assistance).
3. Additional non-profit housing such as is projected in the Presby-
terian project, with "Section 8" ,assistance from HUD.
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Salina Needs Assessment Project
Task Force 4
Inadequate Knowledge and Skills
Need/Problem: Adults who are undereducated, having failed to complete high
school.
Evidence of need/problem: According to the 1970 census, there were 11,106
persons (24 percent of total County population) 16 years of age and
older who had failed to earn a hioh school dio1oma. This number
included 2,795 young persons between the ages' of 16-24 years who were not
enrolled in school. The number of drop-outs during the past five years
will exceed the number of persons completing the 6.E.0. (high school
equivalency test). The 1976 statistics would therefore probably show
little change from the 1970 census data.
Quantity of need/problem: Over 11,000 persons are in need of further educa-
tion to ena61e them to pass the high school equivalency examination.
Programs to meet need/problem: Some form of outreach program is needed to help
motivate as many as possible of the 11,000 plus persons to continue their
education, at least on a part-time basis, and to follow-through by com-
pleting and passing tbe 6.E.0. The opportunities for education seem to be
available under the auspices of USO 305. Programs to motivate those who
could benefit by them are needed. The beneficiaries are primarily those
who are ashamed of their lack of education and resistant to taking the
first step. Reaching out to such individuals, reassuring them that they
need have no fears, and paving the way for their enrollment in continuing
education would be the purpose of a program to be designed by those best
acquainted with Sa1inans who have this problem.
-15-
Salina Needs Assessment Project
Task Force 4
Inadequate Knowledge and Skills
Need/Problem: Inability of grade school children to obtain guidance and
help in classroom-related problems, ,vocational plans, course selec-
tion, underachievement in relation to innate ability, etc.
Evidence of need/problem: School District 305 has only six counselors to
cover 17 elementary schools. It was reported to the study consultants
that this dearth of counselors restricts most of them to concerns
relative to absences and truancy.
Quantity of need/problem: No estimate obtainable.
Programs to meet need/problem: The number of counselors should be increased.
Doubling of the present number is a reasonable goal.
-16-
Salina Heeds Assessment Project
Task Force 5
Personal and Social Maladjustment
and Lack of Developmental Opportunities
Need/Problem: Inability of professionals ,in health, education, law enforce-
ment, and corrections, as well as general public, to recognize abuse
and neglect of children when they encounter cases, and incorrectly
attribute some cases to unavoidable accidents.
Evidence of need/problem:
assessment testified
abuse or neglect was
tion would have been
Professionals who were interviewed in this needs
to instances of cases known to them in which child
not recognized at an early stage, when interven-
most helpful.
Quantity of need/problem: The number of cases is probably not large. The
number reported last year to the Juvenile Court was under 50. The
number of unreported cases is unknown.
Programs to meet need/problem:
1. Series of educational programs for service providers who are likely
to encounter cases of child abuse or neglect.
2. Support of the newly organized Parents Anonymous:
3. Use of the proposed family counseling program and the projected
crisis intervention service planned by the Mental Health Center.
-17-
Salina Needs Assessment Project
Task....Force 2
Deficient Environmental Conditions and/or
Unful fi 11 ed Bas i c Ma teri a 1 tJeeds
Need/Problem: Lack of emergency shelter for families or members of families
in crises, the victims of disaster (e.g., fires), neglected or abused
chi 1 dren, ba ttered wi ves, trans i ent fami 1 i es ,and i ndi vi dua 1 s stranded
in Salina, and runaway youth for whom official detention would be
i nappropri a te and/or counter-producti ve.
Evidence of Need/problem:
1. Service providers under voluntary auspices report frequent demands
made of them for emergency shelter which they are unable to meet
sa ti s factori ly.
a) The Salvation ArmY has reluctantly given emergency shelter in
its own building which is not equipped for such purposes. The
only other facilities which the agency reports are available
to it are the lowest priced motels or hotels, resources which
the Salvation Army claim are highly unsatisfactory to the
meeting of this need.
b) Catholic Social Services reports that four or five calls per
week are received for emergency shelter, but past frustrated
efforts to locate accommodations have led the' staff to dis-
continue further efforts. St. Joseph's home, which is an
emergency shelter, was exceeding its capability of 12 by three
youths in November; Catholic Charities reported that one girl
eligible for its services was then languished in jail because
of the inability of the Home to admit her.
c) The Yl4CA has frequent call s on it for hel p from gi rl tran-'
sients who are dropped off by truck drivers traveling the
nearby interstate highway. The agency claims that the police
will not respond to calls for help to such girls, who are
typically runaways or abandoned wives. The agency reports
that it has great difficulty in finding emergency accommoda-
tions for these girls and women, and must improvise arrange-
ments as best it can.
Quantity of need/problem:
1. Salvation Army has served as many as 21 families and individuals on
a single night.
2. Catholic Charities receives four or five calls per week for help.
3. YWCA, between months of May through September, estimates it
recei ves reqeus ts for help from 25-50 gi,rl s and women; 1 ess than 10
during winter months; asserts it could keep a temporary residence
for women filled with 12 residents continuously all year round.
-18-
4. The Assistant Kansas State Parole Officer reports that the lack of
emergency housing is the most important unmet need among the members
of her adult caseload.
Programs to meet need/problem:
1. Youth hostel or hospitality house not connected to any segment of
the criminal justice-corrections system.
2. Emergency shelter for families, such as converted building attended
by paid maintenance personnel and supervised by professional per-
sonnel of an existing agency.
3. Family boarding homes available for emergencies.
-19-
Salina Needs Assessment Project
Task Force 2
Deficient Environmental Conditions and/or
Unfulfilled Basic Material Needs
Need/Problem: Lack of temporary housing for employed newcomers.
Evidence of need/problem:
Service providers under voluntary auspices report frequent demands
made of them for temporary housing which they are unable to meet
satisfactorily. Because of its location in the State and its
reputed favorable economy, Salina is said to attract a significant
number of indigent transients and newcomers. The latter are those
who have newly acquired jobs but are temporarily without funds or
shelter, and require help until receipt of their first paycheck.
Quantity of need/problem:
1. Salvation Army has served as many as 21 families and individuals on
a single night.
2. Catholic Charities receives four or five calls per week for help
with temporary housing.
Programs to meet need/problem:
1. Apartment(s) maintained by non-profit orqanization for housinq
families for short periods of time.
-20-
Salina Needs Assessment Project
Task Force 5
Personal and Social Maladjustment
. and Lack of Developmental Opportunities
Need/Problem: Pre-school children who are ill-supervised during the day
because of necessity for parent(s) to work or because homemaker is
absent from home because of illness or other causes.
Evidence of need/problem:
1. The two group day care organizations in Salina both are filled
to capacity and have waiting lists for admission of children
whom they cannot now accommodate. These lists include only those
parents who are willing to wait and exclude an additional number
who have had to make immediate alternative arrangements for their
children.
2. SRS reports having received unfillab1e requests for day care of
children.
Quantity of need/problem: On December 1, 1976, the waiting lists were as
follows: Salina Day Care Center 35
Martin Luther King Center 65
Programs to meet need/problem:
1. Expansion of present group day care centers under not-for-profit
auspices or establishment of new ones. The waiting lists are of
sufficient size to justify the creation of at least one more
group day care center immediately.
2. Additional licensed and supervised family day care homes.
-21-
Salina Needs Assessment Project
Task Force 5
Personal and Social Maladjustment
and Lack of Developmental Opportunities
Need/Problem: Separation from local government of Salina Recreation Commis-
sion; the limit on its source of income to 2 mill levy in effect since
1965 despite increasing costs and increasing demand for services; and
inability to hold title to property or issue bonds.
Evidence of need/problem:
1. The major evidence of inadequacy of the public recreation program
is reflected in the deficiency of programs for older youth and
young adults, elsewhere reflected in this report.
2. Public recreation responsibilities are so diffused that even some
professionals, who were interviewed by the MACSI team, were unclear
about who is responsible for what. (Example: One executive of a
voluntary agency ascribed the jurisdiction over the city pools to
the Recreation Commission, whereas MACSI was advised that this is a
responsibility of the City Government.)
3. The Director of the Recreation Commission asserts that his agency
is ineligible for most federal programs and grants.
4. The State Legislature has been prevailed upon to pass special leg-
islation for a few jurisdictions to alleviate their similar problems,
but no such legislation has been enacted for Salina or Saline County.
5. The Salina Recreation Commission has no direct affiliation with
local government; there is confusion as to responsibility for spec-
ific policies resulting in misunderstanding and lack of cooperation
among local officials; and use of schools and city facilities by
the Recreation Commission is overly dependent on the compatability
of individuals in the responsible offices rather than on policy
imperatives.
Quantity of need/problem: The problem affects the entire community, but will
be having its greatest effect on families of low income, or moderate
income families of large size who will increasingly find it difficult
to pay the fees required by voluntary recreation agencies, which, despite
some provisions to waive some or all of their fees, will find it more
and more difficult to accommodate those unable to pay because of increas-
ing costs and insufficiency of contributed money to keep pace with the
rate of inflation.
-22-
~rogram to meet need/problem: Undertake a comprehensive survey of recreation
needs, including facilities and programs, with exploration in such a
survey of the desirability of a City-County Recreation Agency, structured
in a fashion similar to the City-County Health Department, and specifica-
tion of needed changes in State statutes to improve public recreation.
-23-
Salina Needs Assessment Project
Task Force 5
Personal and Social Maladjustment
and Lack of Developmental Opportunities
Need/Problem: Young school children whose parents are working, leaving them
unsupervised during the hours after school until the return home of the
parents (i.e., 11atch-key" children).
Evidence of need/problem: School authorities indicate that the number of such
children is significant, but they are unable to deal with the problem.
Quantity of need/problem: An estimated 450-500 Salina children are in need of
after-school supervision (estimate based on reports from six elementary
schoo 1 s ) .
Programs to meet need/problem:
1. Supplemental program in day care centers for pre-school children
to provide after-school supervision and activities for grade
schoo 1 chi 1 dren.
2. After-school recreation programs in school facilities operated by
voluntary recreation agencies and/or Recreation Commission, with
provision of transportation to participating children.
3. Programs at neighborhood community centers if and when they a~e
established by the City.
-24-
Salina Needs Assessment Project
Task Force 2
Deficient Environmental Conditions and/or
Unfulfilled Basic Material Needs
Need/Problem: Excessive number of offenders incarcerated in prisons who could
be successfully rehabilitated at less cost by alternatives to incarcera-
tion, such as probation, work release programs, etc. (as an alternative
to building more prisons).
Evidence of need/problem: The population of prisons in Kansas is reported to
have risen 6y 40 percent in last two years. For some first offenders,
prisons exacerbate their problems by placing them in contact with
hardened criminals. Experts in correction agree that crime cannot be
controlled only by building more prisons; a variety of alternatives
should be available.
9uantity of need/problem: No estimate is feasible of the number of offenders
inappropriately imprisoned.
Programs to meet need/problem: Alternatives to prison such as increased use
of probation wit~ more probation counselors, half-way houses, work
release programs.
-25-
Salina Needs Assessment Project
Task Force 4
Inadequate Knowledge and Skills
Need/Problem: Inability of emotionally disturbed children of e1e~entary
school age to obtain education tailored to their needs.
Evidence of need/problem: Story in Salina Journal reporting on plight of
eight year old emotionally disturbed child who could not be accom-
modated in public schools because of absence of special education
programs for children of or near that age. Lack of such programs for
this group was confirmed by Dr. Harry Anderson, Assistant Superinten-
dent of School District 305.
Quantity of need/problem: Dr. Harry Anderson estimates 10 - 20 children of
elementary school age are in need of a special education program in
the public schools. Identifying the precise number is difficult
because the term "emotiona1 disturbance" is imprecise.
Programs to meet need/problem: Extension of public schools' special educa-
tion programs for older children to younger ones. School District 305
will probably establish one or two special classrooms in time to meet
state mandate. This mandate - that all handicapped children of school
age shall be served - is effective in-T979.
-26-
Salina Needs Assessment Project
Task Force 2
Deficient Environmental Conditions and/or
Unfulfilled Basic Material Needs
Need/Problem: Inability of the poor to afford and obtain legal assistance
in pressing their legaJ rights in civil cases.
Evidence of need/problem: There is no legal assistance program in the
Salina area, even though Federal matching funds are available from the
Legal Services Corporation, a Federal program. The current plan for
services under Title XX of the Social Security Act makes provision for
purchase of legal services for persons eligible under Title XX, but
the ability to purchase such services is dependent on the willingness
of local attorneys to accept cases under the provisions of the Act.
(The consultants have not as yet established whether this Title XX
program is currently operating in the Salina area.)
Even if Title XX funds are available, experience has demonstrated
that salaried attorneys who serve exclusively clients unable to afford
legal fees is a more certain method of providing legal services in
civil suits. (Note: This need is not met by the existing Lawyer
Referral Service of the Saline County Bar Association.)
Quantit~ of need/problem: The number of unserved persons could not be estab-
llshed. However, given the size of the population of Saline County and
its trend upward in size, the services of one full-time attorney could
probably meet the need adequately for now and the immediate future.
Program to meet need/problem: Two alternatives are indicated:
1. Creation of a non-profit corporation under United Way auspices (as
exist in many communities), with a broadly representative Board of
Directors and a staff of one full-time young attorney and a secre-
tary. The United Way would provide all or some of the money to
attract matching Federal funds. Office space might be donated to
comprise a part of the required local match.
2. Assignment to Salina and Saline County of an attorney from the
newly created legal assistance program established with a Federal
grant recently, by Prepaid Legal Services of Kansas.
3. Program sponsored by Saline County Bar Association to obtain parti-
cipation by its members to take civil cases without reimbursement
on a rotating basis, so that all attorneys donate some free profes-
sional time as a community service. (No program of this kind in Kansas is
known by the consultants, but the assumption is that prevailing
attitudes of civic commitment in Salina 'might make such a program
feasible.)
-27-
Salina Needs Assessment Project
Task Force 1
Inadequate Income and Lack of Employment Opportunities
Need/Problem: Inadequate access to job opportunities for public assistance
recipients who are being trained in the WIN (Work Incentive) program,
for the handicapped, for minority persons without special skills, and
for high school dropouts.
Evidence of need/problem: The WIN program in Salina had 84 active clients
registered as of October 1976, but had made no job placements in that
month. The active file of handicapped in the same month showed 117
job applicants registered, with 36 referrals to jobs and only 13 place-
ments. The active file contained 114 minority applicant~ 23 referrals
to jobs, but only 6 placements. An ironic aspect of the problem is
that employers are reportedly having difficulty in finding qualified
minority candidates to fulfill Affirmative Action goals, while some
minority persons are being unsuccessful in their quest for satisfactory
jobs or advancement opportunities.
Another aspect of the problem as it affects unemployed minority per-
sons is their lack of sophistication in coping with ~erit systems to
gain access to the eligibility rolls. The Kansas State merit system
was cited as a prime example. State agencies say that at times they
have openings for which unskilled or semi-skilled persons would be
eligible and they would welcome minority candidates. However, upon
obtaining the list of eligibles living in their geographic area, they
frequently find that there are no or very few active eligibles from
mi nori ty groups.
Vo-Tech reports it is usually unable to find jobs for about 10 percent
of the handicapped whom it trains.
Quantity of need/problem: 84 public assistance recipients in vJIN program
100 handicapped job seekers
90 minority job seekers
5 Vo-Tech graduates
279
Conservative estimate for one year would be 300 at present low rate of
employment.
Program to meet need/problem:
1. A State financing of increased special employment assistance to
the socially and economically disadvantaged by trained job develop-
ers and placement specialists who would seek cooperation from
business and industry.
-28-
2. Examination by a Committee of the Chamber of Commerce of what some
of its members might be able to offer with job openings for the
hard-to-place socially disadvantaged, including ex-offenders.
3. An aggressive recruitment program directed at high school dropouts
to bring them into technical training at Vo-Tech for available job
openings.
4. A State-financed program of bonding ex-offenders to assure private
employers that they will be protected.
-29-
Salina Needs Assessment Project
Task Force 5
Personal and Social Maladjustment
and Lack of Developmental Opportunities
Need/Problem: Inadequate recreation for older adolescents and young adults.
Evidence of need/problem: Respondents from well-placed sources (police,
social workers, minister, YWCA executive) expressed the strong opinion
that the community does not attempt to meet the leisure time needs of
teenagers and young adults who are not attracted by school or other
formal institutional programs. These young people will respond only to
specially devised program offerings. Several interviewees referred to
the Lamplighter as an example. This is a tavern which last summer
closed the beer taps one night a week, admitted young people, maintained
order, etc. By all accounts it was a success - no bad scenes and high
numbers of participants in attendance. But it did lead to problems out-
side the facility and the tavern operators discontinued the program.
Quantity of need/problem: No estimate feasible.
Program to meet need/problem: The Recreation Commission sh0uld organize a
planning group of youth and young adults to develop a program that is
attractive and exciting to youth, with adequate safeguards to prevent
the problems encountered by the Lamplighter. The Recreation Commission
should be the auspices, but allow the youth themselves to plan and
operate the program to provide those activities and atmosphere which
appeal to them.
-30-
Salina Needs Assessment Project
Task Force 5
Personal and Social Maladjustment
and Lack of Developmental Opportunities
Need/Problem: Lack of knowledge among elderly of the benefits to which
they are entitled or the services available to them.
Evidence of need/problem:
1. Actuaries in the Social Security Administration have estimated
that the potential recipients of Supplementary Security Income
(SSI) exceed the number of actual recipients in Salina and
Sa 1 ine County.
2. The Saline County Community Center was serving in its daily con-
gregate meal program an average of 40 elderly poor in November -
December, 1976, whereas it is equipped to serve an average of 75
to 100 and is confident that the number of eligibles is at least
the latter number.
3. A student at Bethany College, who has been doing "outreach" work
among the aged, has found a significant number of elderly who are
unaware of the various services available to help them with their
problems. Upon her graduation in January, 1977,'this limited
outreach service will be ended unless it is provided in another way.
Quantity of need/problem: The nature of the problem renders highly specu-
lative any statement on the volume of aged who need to be reached.
Program to meet need/problem: Paid professional "outreach worker" to be
employed by an established organization, such as the Commission on
Aging.
-31-
Salina Needs Assessment Project
Task Force 5
Personal and Social Maladjustment
and Lack of Developmental Opportunities
Need/Problem: Lack of recreational opportunities for working adults during
wi nter months.
Evidence of need/problem: The Salina Journal reported in an editorial of
February 2, 1977, that there are literally "scores of Salinans" who
would like to have more opportunity for indoor recreation to keep physi-
cally fit. The editorial also maintained that there is "a substantial
oversubscription.to the team programs offered by the Salina Recreation
Commission. II It pointed to the overcrowding on the floor of the KTI
gymnasium where Recreation Commission-sponsored activities are over-
crowded, creating a safety hazard.
Quantity of need/problem: Facilities for about 100-500 adults is probably a
reliable estimate.
Program to meet need/problem: The use of school gymnasium in the evenings is
probably the most immediate practical step to relieve th~ conditions
reported.
The relocation and rebuilding of Carver Neighborhood Center and/or the
renovation of Memorial Hall (as already proposed) could be an additional
course of action. These facilities could be staffed by the Recreation
Commission.
-32-
APPENDIX A
Persons Interviewed for Information on Needs
Intervi ewee
Organization Represented
T. M. Amos
Dr. Harry Anderson
Catherine Beverly
Dr. Daniel Bratton
Sister Diane Brin
REACT
United School District #305
Salina Child Care Center #1
Kansas Weselyan University
St. John's Hospital
Norma Burnett
Sister Mary Paul Buser
Don Chisam
Ginger Clubine
Gary Cook
He 1 en Crawford
Tom Creech
W. J. Dannenberg
Rev. Darold Deterding
Dr. William Dreese
Board of Education, Guidance Department
Marymount College
Saline County Extension Service
Saline County Assn. of Retarded Citizens
Occupational Center of Central Kansas
Citizens Advisory Council of COP
Kansas Technical Institute
Dept. of Labor, Employment Security Div.
Lutheran Church
Central Kansas Mental Health Center
Col. Keith Duckers
Carla Frederickson
June Garrett
Mike Gilbert
Karen Graves
St. John's Military School & City Commissioner
Kansas State Parole & Protection
Social & Rehabilitation Services
Salina Housing Authority
Salina American Revolution Bicentennial Comm.
Vern Haefele
Captain Merritt Hartley
Dr. John Hillery
Nancy Hodges
Garth Hulse
YMCA
Sa 1 va ti on Anny
Saline County Commission on Aging
Chil d Care
Saline County/Salina Health Department
Donald M. Jolley
Joe Kelling
Bi 11 Keszeg
Eugene Lundgrin
Linda Massey
Salina Recreation Commission
Saline County Commission on Aging
City Police-Juvenile
Salina Area Voc Tech
YWCA'
Richard Neuman
Dr. William Null
Kei th Rawl ings
Thomas Ri att
Sister Mary Lou Roberts
Rev. Stanley Rogge
Dr. Lloyd Schurr
Glorine Shelton
Ed Shepa rd
Harry Shimp
Douglas Smi th
Tim Tyson
William Usher
Ben Vidrickson
Judge John Weckel
Robert Whitworth
John Woody
Salina Police Library
Saline County/Salina Health Department
City Planning Commission
Social Security Administration
Catholic-Charities
Saline County Activity Center for Older Citizens
United School District #305
League of Women Voters of Salina
Centr~l Kansas Alcoholism Foundation
Kansas State Vocatlonal Rehabilitation Center
Probation, Juvenile Court
KSAL Radio
Commissioner, City of Salina
N. Salina Businessmen's Association
Saline County Juvenile Court
Chamber of Commerce
Chief of Police
A-l
APPENDIX B
Sources of Documentation
The information from interviews with. service providers was documented
from other sources to the extent that such documentation exists. The sources
used include the following:
1. Applications to HUD for funds for the Community Development Plan.
2. Report of the open hearings on needs conducted by the Citizens
Advisory Committee to the Community Development Plan.
3. Relevant newspaper clippings from the Salina Journal compiled by
the Salina United Way office over a 10 month period.
4. Publication of the Research and Statistics Section of the State
Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services entitled, liThe
Need for Social Services in Kansas".
5. Mental Health and Counseling study by the League of Women Voters
of Salina.
6. Population trends in Salina reported by the County Clerk.
7. Annual report of the Salina Police Department for 1975.
8. Kansas Governor's Legislative Message & Budget Report, 1975.
9. Governorls Budget Report, 1976.
10. Saline County Youth Survey Report by Juvenile Committee of the
Kansas Council on Crime and Delinquency, Saline County Chapter
March, 1976.
11. 1970 U. S. Census.
B-1